Tibor Lukács

Prague, Czech Republic • 1990s

National identity was erratic for a long time, for people living in Eastern Europe. Tibor Lukács was born in the Hungarian-speaking town Kiraly Helmec, now named Kralovsky Chlmec. Hungary controlled the town during the Second World War but it next became part of Czechoslovakia. Tibor’s family moved to Prague before the country split in January 1993, and when it did, his birthplace fell in Slovakia. People of the former Czechoslovakia became citizens of either Czech Republic or Slovakia, depending on which side of the diagonal partition they lived.

Tibor and his family, in Prague, were now Czechs. At least, they tried to be.